Thursday, May 19, 2011

Let's begin with our legislators funding Big Oil with our tax dollars, while Big Oil rakes in record-breaking profits. An Exxon representative actually stated that our gas prices are 30-40% higher than they should be because of rampant speculation on Wall Street. In addition to the extraordinary increases in gas prices, the same speculation is currently driving up our food prices. Plus, legislators and their corporate buddies want to circumvent Dodd-Frank? Really???!!! Do they also really want to get rid of the regulations of the FDA, EPA, FCC, etc. to no longer retain consumer and environmental safety and protection? Cut the social safety net? Repeal Minimum Wage? Cut education budgets? Did legislators in different states "independently" write bills that duplicate, word-for-word, bills independently introduced in many other states, to get rid of collective bargaining and due process for public employees? Want to handicap the odds on those duplicated words being an "accident?" Break public unions?

Anybody finally see where this is really headed, yet? Especially after they created the budget crisis by purposefully removing the protective regulations that would have prevented it from happening, in addition to creating the derivatives market that ignited the blast that blew our economy apart (this is also going on elsewhere, obviously)? What about the mortgage meltdown they created? Was the earlier Savings and Loan scandal a dry run or an unsuccessful plan? We are still in the midst of the greatest transfer of financial and property wealth from the poor and middle class to the wealthy in history! What do you think will happen when we have nothing left, and they've got it all?

One chemical company, Monsanto, owns over 90% of the food seeds, and is reserving them from public use in favor of their own genetically modified seeds. These seeds require the use of tremendous amounts of toxic chemicals to grow. Where's our food security? What do you think will happen to our clean air, water and soil without the EPA? What do you think will happen when there is no longer an educated public who can question things? What do you think will happen to our somewhat free press when they get rid of the FCC? Free and fair elections after Citizens United? Future passports and other forms of identification that will track our whereabouts? Does 2+2=4 yet? Trust them to do the right thing without regulations, oversight, or laws to prevent abuse? Not on your life! I'm not naive, ignorant, stupid, or uneducated.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

On this Mother's Day, I'd like to wish all moms a peaceful and beautiful day. To my mother, may your memory be eternal. I love you and miss you tremendously.

This was such a beautiful day, spent with some of my California family. Sharing a delicious meal with people you love and have known most of your life is such a wonderful gift. After brunch, we went to the local Farmer's Market where I ran into a former student and her mom. This young lady is now a sophomore in HS, earns straight A's, is in honors and AP classes, is in JROTC, and wants to become a nurse. I am so proud of her!

When I got back home, I opened up my Facebook account only to find the most wonderful present - a video of my little godson wishing me a Happy Mother's Day.

When you're given such a perfect day, surrounded by the love of family and friends, how could you not appreciate all the beauty and joy life has to offer?.

Welcome!

Thank you for visiting! I appreciate the time you're taking to look around and read, and truly welcome all respectful comments.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any map of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person: the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works."

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All images and text are All Rights Reserved and the copyrighted, artistic works of Patrice Palmer and Palmer's Purview. Any use of these pictures or text without the express permission of Patrice Palmer or Palmer's Purview is forbidden. This blog is protected by COPYSCAPE.

Other photographs and text are attributed and credited.

Dreams...

to get my books published (one, a children's book, the other, a book of poetry and essays)

to travel, shoot (both photos and videos) and write.

to have my photographs and artwork in the permanent collections of some museums, and published in National Geographic.

to record an album and make a movie.

most importantly, to help people find safety, comfort and peace in this world.

Every Human Has Rights

Our Place on this Earth

"Humans, in all our arrogance and pride, consider the earth, with its vast lands, oceans and living beings, to be under our dominion. Under this circumstance the earth becomes, at best, a well-treated hostage; at worst, a place to tyranically plunder and destroy. We are only one small part of the incredibly rich and diverse planet we call home, and should therefore responsibly share, not rule over, that which gives us and all other living beings life." - Patrice Palmer

One in Three Women and Girls

Are you, or do you know, the 1 in 3?

That's the ratio of women and girls who will be raped or experience violence or sexual abuse during their lifetime. Women's rights are also human rights. I'm calling on everyone to please go to the UN sitehttp://saynotoviolence.org/and add your voice to the global action to Stop Violence Against Women.

The United Nations website on Violence Against Women (VAW), under the auspices of UNIFEM has more information:

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall — think of it, always." - Mahatma Gandhi

Please Help a Writer and Photographer Follow Her Dreams

My Beautiful Pets

"The crazy part of my mind is like a mischievous pet I have to keep watch over, or it might behave badly while I'm not paying attention."— Margaret Sartor (Miss American Pie: A Diary of Love, Secrets and Growing Up in the 1970s)

Quotes

"Life can be difficult, yet when you meet resistance with resilience, you turn challenge into opportunity." - Patrice Palmer

"The view in the rear-view mirror can cause a driver to get in a wreck. Keep your eyes on the road ahead to see the curves and forks that challenge your drive through life. Your timing on the brakes and accelerator determines your finesse in negotiating those challenges, and is improved by your knowledge, experience, confidence, and integrity. The challenges encourage growth, creation, and finesse in driving your life." – Patrice Palmer

"Words witness, honor, and preserve the lives of those who have touched our lives in some way. They also have the immense power to bind us together, creating community and a positive future where none had existed before." – Patrice Palmer

"If you get hit by life or walk into a wall, be flexible, embrace the change, and keep hugging yourself as you roll downhill. When you get to the bottom, you'll be able to get up and walk back to the top." - Patrice Palmer